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11
Colorado Mesa CMU 18-9
14
Winner Regis University RUBB 16-10-1
Colorado Mesa CMU
18-9
11
Final
14
Regis University RUBB
16-10-1
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Colorado Mesa CMU 0 1 3 5 0 0 1 1 0 11 15 2
Regis University RUBB 3 2 0 1 0 3 3 2 X 14 13 1

W: Gantz, Carson (2-0) L: Jordan Pace (0-1) S: Sloan, Ethan (6)

Adam Paniagua 3.28
Billy Saunders, Regis Athletics
Regis junior Adam Paniagua finished 4-for-6 with a home run and 8 RBI in Thursday's win over Colorado Mesa.

Game Recap: Baseball | | David Wilson, Assistant AD-Communications

Paniagua drives in a career-high 8 RBI, Rangers knock off No. 13 Colorado Mesa in Game One

DENVER, Colo. — Playing in its first home game in over a month, the Regis University baseball team picked up right where it left off in February, knocking off a perennial power in No. 13 Colorado Mesa University by a 14-11 final to open a pivotal four-game series between the two RMAC foes.

Regis (16-10-1 overall, 7-2 RMAC), back home for the first time since earning a series split against No. 14 Augustana on February 25, snapped the Mavericks (18-9 overall, 11-2 RMAC) 11-game winning streak with the victory and earned its first win over CMU in Denver since 2015.

"It almost felt like a home opener for us, it had been so long since we got to play here, and we're excited with how we were able to come out and grind out nine innings against a high-quality opponent, which Colorado Mesa is," said Regis head baseball coach, Pat Jolley. "Obviously, the win gives us some momentum heading into the rest of the weekend. But the big thing for us today was it was great to see us continue to play good baseball."

HOW IT HAPPENED
Taking a page from a basketball script, Thursday's series opener was a game of runs and momentum swings between the current top-two teams in the RMAC, and two teams currently ranked inside the top-5 in the South Central regional polls.

Regis delivered the first punch, striking for three runs in the home-half of the first inning, courtesy of a two-run double by junior catcher Adam Paniagua and a RBI single off the bat of first baseman Matt Graf.

The Rangers would hold a 5-1 lead through two innings before Colorado Mesa punched back, scoring the next eight runs of the ballgame with three in the third and five runs in the fourth to take a 9-5 lead entering the middle innings.

Regis would chip away, getting a run back in the bottom of the fourth, before pulling even again at 9-9 on a two-run single from junior left fielder Garrett Rede in the sixth.

Colorado Mesa would briefly retake a 10-9 lead in the top of the seventh before Paniagua capped another sensational performance by clubbing a three-run, opposite-field home run in the home-half of the inning that would put the Rangers on top for good at 12-10.

The home run was the team-leading 11th of the season for Paniagua while the three runs driven in were part of a career-high eight RBI afternoon for the Rangers' catcher. Paniagua will enter play Friday second in the RMAC in hitting (.453) while leading the conference in home runs (11), slugging percentage (.916) and on-base percentage (.584).

"Playing against great teams, you have to have your best players be at their best and Adam is our guy. And there's no question about it that, when Adam is going good, we score a lot of runs. He is such a big, strong guy who barrels a lot of baseballs," Jolley said. "Adam is our guy, our All-American type player, and we trust him to come through in big situations."

The Rangers were in a position to take the lead in the seventh thanks in large part to the work of true freshman Carson Gantz, who came into the ballgame in the fifth inning and held a powerful Mavericks lineup to just one run on three hits while striking out two en route to earning his second collegiate win.

"Carson was able to throw multiple pitches for strikes from a little bit of a funky arm slot. And when facing good offenses like Colorado Mesa, sometimes its not as much about velocity and stuff but rather giving them a different look," Jolley said. "Carson was really able to command his slider and when he throws his fastball-slider combo for strikes, he does a really good job for us."

The Regis offense would add two more insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, giving plenty of cushion for the reigning RMAC Pitcher of the Week, senior Ethan Sloan, to nail down the final six outs for his conference-leading sixth save of 2024.

GAME NOTES
  • Junior shortstop Clayton Conn extended his hitting streak to 12 games, reaching base five times from the leadoff spot (2-for-4, 5 runs, 2 walks).
  • Senior outfielder Levi Padilla was the third Ranger to collect a multi-hit game on Thursday, joining Paniagua and Conn. He finished 2-for-4 with 2 runs scored and one RBI.
  • Regis hitters only struck out two times in 37 total at-bats.
 
UP NEXT
The Rangers and Mavericks return to the diamond on Friday for a pair of seven-inning contests. Game One of the doubleheader is scheduled for 12 p.m. at the Regis Baseball Field in Denver.
 
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Scoring Summary

Score By Innings
Play CMU RUBB
RUBB BOT 1st A. Paniagua doubled to right center, 2 RBI; Levi Padilla scored; Clayton Conn scored. 0 2
RUBB BOT 1st Matt Graf singled up the middle, RBI; A. Paniagua scored. 0 3
CMU TOP 2nd D. Wiesner grounded out to 2b, RBI; D. Shaver scored. 1 3
RUBB BOT 2nd Clayton Conn advanced to third; Tanner Rice scored on a balk. 1 4
RUBB BOT 2nd A. Paniagua grounded out to 2b, RBI; Clayton Conn scored. 1 5
CMU TOP 3rd C. Stefanos homered to left center, 2 RBI; K. Felix scored. 3 5
CMU TOP 3rd D. Wiesner homered down the lf line, RBI. 4 5
CMU TOP 4th C. Stefanos flied out to cf, SF, RBI; E. Nunez advanced to third; R. Sharrar scored. 5 5
CMU TOP 4th B. Winget singled through the left side, RBI; K. Felix advanced to third; E. Nunez scored. 6 5
CMU TOP 4th D. Shaver homered to right field, 3 RBI; B. Winget scored; K. Felix scored. 9 5
RUBB BOT 4th A. Paniagua singled down the lf line, RBI; Levi Padilla advanced to second; Clayton Conn scored, unearned. 9 6
RUBB BOT 6th A. Paniagua doubled to left field, RBI; Clayton Conn scored. 9 7
RUBB BOT 6th Garrett Rede singled to right field, 2 RBI; M. Fullerton advanced to second; Matt Graf scored; A. Paniagua scored. 9 9
CMU TOP 7th R. Sharrar doubled to right field, RBI; D. Wiesner scored. 10 9
RUBB BOT 7th A. Paniagua homered to right field, 3 RBI; Levi Padilla scored; Clayton Conn scored. 10 12
CMU TOP 8th C. Stefanos flied out to cf, SF, RBI; K. Felix scored. 11 12
RUBB BOT 8th Tanner Rice reached on a fielder's choice to first base, RBI; CJ Difiglia advanced to second; M. Fullerton scored. 11 13
RUBB BOT 8th Levi Padilla singled to right field, RBI; Tanner Rice advanced to second; CJ Difiglia scored. 11 14

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